by Mardi Link
"Kay, take care of yourself and keep improving," Roscommon County Probate Court Judge Mark D. Jernigan told Kay McGinnis, 82, at the close of an Aug. 8 petition hearing.
The petition, filed by one of McGinnis' sisters, Loreli Haddad, 83, also of Roscommon, sought to have McGinnis' current guardian and conservator removed and have the judge either terminate guardianship altogether, or appoint McGinnis as her own guardian.
"I do not understand what their criteria is, for someone to remain a ward of the state," Haddad said. "Once you get one of these guardians, even if your health gets better, it's like you never escape."
If all court appointments for McGinnis are terminated, no further contact with the probate court would be required. If McGinnis is allowed to be her own guardian, annual reports on housing, medical services, income and expenses would still be required, but McGinnis would submit these reports herself.
Sheila Englehardt of St. Helen will continue for now as McGinnis' guardian and conservator, pending the outcome of the new medical examination, the judge said.
The judge appointed psychologist Eric R. Harvey, who happened to be in the courtroom preparing to testify on another case, to conduct the new evaluation of McGinnis.
"We'll set a time and I'll come to you," Harvey told McGinnis after the hearing. "And you can have whomever you want be there with you."
The judge's decision, and Harvey's approachable manner, seemed to satisfy the several members of McGinnis' family and her longtime friends, who attended the hearing in support of McGinnis' ability to care for herself and make her own decisions.
"Finally, maybe some good news," said Peggy Olsen, 87, McGinnis oldest sister.
McGinnis has had four court-appointed guardians since suffering a stroke in 2016, court records show.
She and her family say the initial appointment of McGinnis' longtime partner, John Kutz, as guardian was warranted, as McGinnis was temporarily unable to care for herself or manage her affairs.
When Kutz died of liver cancer in 2019, however, a series of new court-appointed guardians and conservators succeeded Kutz, even after McGinnis and her sisters said McGinnis had sufficiently recovered to make her own decisions.
One of those guardians, Mary "Minnie" Lovely, of Grayling, was investigated by the Michigan State Police and later arraigned on an embezzlement charge, after being accused of spending about $9,000 of McGinnis' money on cell phones, lottery tickets and casino gambling.
Mortgage payments on McGinnis' Stuckey Avenue home were not made during this time, court records show, and the house went into foreclosure.
A bench warrant for Lovely was issued after she no-showed a court date earlier this year. Calls to a cell phone number listed in court documents was not returned.
Englehardt was appointed to replace Lovely, although the family says that appointment also has been problematic.
Englehardt received permission from the court to sell McGinnis' Stuckey Avenue home to protect McGinnis' equity, but she has not provided the family with details on proceeds and expenses, they said.
"She helped uncover Minnie's spending," said Haddad, "and I do think she invested the money from the house, but when we asked her for an accounting, she told us she only has to provide that to the court once a year."
Michigan law states court-appointed guardians and conservators are required to submit annual reports to the probate court, with guardians reporting on housing and medical issues of those they are appointed to serve and conservators reporting on income and expenses.
Those listed in the court case as "interested parties" must receive copies of these annual reports, the law states, and can object to anything they find suspicious, incomplete or inaccurate.
Englehardt did not attend the hearing after submitting a letter to McGinnis' court-appointed attorney, Michael Edwards, that she was unavailable.
Calls to Englehardt seeking comment went unanswered and a recording stated her voice mailbox was full and couldn't receive messages.
The letter from Englehardt, and a previous medical evaluation by a Grayling doctor consisting of a single word — "Dementia." — pleased neither Judge Jernigan nor McGinnis' family.
Haddad said it is McGinnis' speech, and not her intellectual ability, that bears the effects of the stroke, and that speech difficulties alone should not preclude someone from having autonomy over their own life.
The judge decided he wanted more information about that issue, before deciding whether to grant Haddad's petition.
"I don't know that you suffer from dementia," Jernigan told McGinnis. "I'm not convinced one way or the other that you still need a guardian or a conservator. Do you feel you are able to make your own decisions?"
"Please, please, yes, your honor," McGinnis said.
A new hearing will be scheduled once McGinnis is evaluated by Harvey, the judge said.
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